From the Writer's Almanac:On
this day in 1800, the Library of Congress was established. In a bill
that provided for the transfer of the nation's capital from Philadelphia
to Washington, Congress included a provision for a reference library
containing "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress — and
for putting up a suitable apartment for containing them therein ..."
The library was housed in the Capitol building, until British troops
burned and pillaged it in 1814. Thomas Jefferson offered as a
replacement his own personal library: nearly 6,500 books, the result of
50 years' worth of "putting by everything which related to America, and
indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science."

First
opened to the public in 1897, the Library of Congress is now the largest
library in the world. It houses more than 144 million items, including
33 million catalogued books in 460 languages; more than 63 million
manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the
world's largest collection of films, legal materials, maps, sheet music,
and sound recordings.